Preserving Everyday Stories

For Lori Wysong ’19, history was not confined to the classroom. From internships and international travel to student leadership and hands-on museum work, her undergraduate experience laid the foundation for a career dedicated to preserving and interpreting the past.

 

After graduation, she pursued a master’s degree in public history at Villanova University. There, she expanded her expertise by working at a historic Pennsylvania German farmstead and interned at a historic preservation consulting firm—an experience that continued as freelance work for several years after earning her degree. Her career took her through small local museums in Loudon County, Virginia, before bringing her to her current role: director of Jefferson County Museum in Charles Town, West Virginia. There, she cares for over 9,000 artifacts, including the wagon that carried John Brown to his execution, a letter written by George Washington, and the uniform of the last surviving WWI veteran in the US, alongside objects, documents, and photographs that preserve the stories of everyday people. In addition to stewarding the collection, she also plans exhibits and public programs that connect the community to Jefferson County’s rich history.

During her time at the College, Wysong immersed herself in a wide range of academic, professional, and extracurricular experiences. Through the Explore America Summer Internship Program, she worked at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, gaining hands-on experience in public history and historical interpretation. Her studies also took her abroad: she traveled to Barcelona and Oxford through the Cater Society for Junior Fellows, and to Madrid and Panama through the Model United Nations.

Many of these experiences inform her work today. “A lot of the research, writing, and editing skills I refined during my time at Washington College are a large part of what I do on a daily basis for my job,” Wysong explained. Her experience as News Editor for The Elm, in particular, helped sharpen her writing and editing skills, which she still relies on for exhibit text, interpretive material, and public programming.

While working as a tour guide for the Customs House, Wysong helped curate an archeology exhibit on the colonial period that opened in 2019. That exhibit established an ongoing commitment to making historical research accessible and engaging for the public.

Reflecting on her time at the College, she credits professors with her intellectual and career growth. “I loved so many of my professors at Washington College,” said Wysong. “They designed a lot of really engaging and relevant coursework to help us become better at skills every historian needs to know.”

Their mentorship proved transformative: originally, Wysong did not plan to attend grad school, but after some encouragement from her professors—Clayton Black, the Barbara Townsend Cromwell ’55 associate professor of history, and Janet Sorrentino, history professor emerita—she applied for and received an assistantship at Villanova University.

That support carried over into her professional life. Her internship at Harpers Ferry National Historic Park proved the most influential. “Harpers Ferry prepared me for my current job in ways I could not anticipate at the time,” she explained.

Familiarity with local history gave her an advantage when working in the museum field. She also noted that the Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience provided her with formative experiences in the local history of Chestertown.

Her Senior Capstone Experience also resonates with her current career path. The project focused on the political dimensions of Antoni Gaudí’s architecture, sharpening her ability to analyze the built environment and material culture—skills that became invaluable in graduate school and continue to inform aspects of her work.

Looking back, her advice to current and prospective students is to take advantage of every opportunity available to them.

“Not only is it a beautiful campus in a uniquely historic setting,” she said, “but there are a lot of great experiences available that will help you in your future career if you're willing to take full advantage of them.”

 — Andraya Sudler '26